HHS ranks third for lowest death rate in GTA

Gtwn Hospital-92

Halton Healthcare Services (HHS)- which includes Georgetown Hospital - ranked third in the GTA for the lowest rate of deaths.

HHS earned the rate of 80 in the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) recently released 2012 report on Hospital Standardized Mortality Ratio (HSMR) for all eligible acute care Canadian hospitals.

"HSMR is one of the key patient safety indicators that HHS hospitals along with other hospitals in Ontario, report publicly. It is a "big dot" indicator designed to report on patient safety and quality of care," explains Denise Hardenne, HHS Executive Vice-President. "An HSMR rate below 100 means that your hospital had less deaths than the expected rate for your patient population while a score above 100 means that your hospital had more deaths than the expected rate for your patient population. With HSMR - a lower score indicates better performance with regard to safety and quality care."

"HHS' positive results can be attributed to our strong culture of safety and care in an environment that is constantly driven by a multitude of continuous quality improvement initiatives," continues Ms. Hardenne.

HHS President and CEO John Oliver said it's encouraging to see HHS continue to rank well on key patient safety indicator among hospitals across the GTA.

"It is important for patients to know that their local hospital is safe and that every effort is being made to ensure that they receive the highest standard of care. HHS' performance reflects our organization's ongoing focus on patient safety as well as the daily efforts of our staff, physicians and volunteers in providing the best care possible," said Oliver.

He said HHS strongly supports the CIHI HSMR report.

"In addition to providing a high-level statistical measure of patient outcomes over time, the report helps us monitor our trends and guides us in implementing strategies to reduce mortality.It helps us understand the factors that contribute to our rates so we can continuously enhance the culture of safety and care throughout the entire organization," said Oliver.

HHS has implemented a number of safety initiatives over the past few years. The following are just a sample of the activities that have contributed to a safer and higher quality patient experience at HHS hospitals:

* Falls Prevention Program

* Surgical Safety Checklist

* Pressure Ulcer Prevention

* SaferHealthcareNow initiatives for prevention of central line infections, ventilator associated pneumonia and surgical site infections

* The use of standardised Order Sets through Partnership with Order Sets Inc.

* Medication Management Program

HSMR compares the actual number of deaths in a hospital to the number that would have been expected based on the types of patients that hospital treats. The calculation adjusts for various factors that affect hospital mortality rates such as age, gender, transfers, diagnoses and admission status of patients. The 2011/12 HSMR results reflect the new methodology introduced to hospitals in February 2012.